Hydraulically operated over-bed table



March 12, 1963 v. GUGLIELMI 3,080,835

HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED OVER-BED TABLE Filed Feb. 9, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l Vito Guglie/mi l N VE N TOR.

BY Mad-2'...

March 12, 1963 v. GUGLlELMl 3,080,835

HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED OVER-BED TABLE Filed Feb. 9, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Vito Gugl/e/m/ 1 N VE N TOR.

BY flawaoiih.

M -Mq,

United States Patent Ofitice assasss Patented Mar. 12, l63

. 3,080,835 HYDRAULICALLY GPERATED flVER-BED TABLE Vito Guglielnsi, 6 N. Pleasant Plaintieid, Conn. Filed Feb, 9, 1962, Ser. No. 172,148 4 illainls. (Cl. 103-416) The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in an over-bed table of a type which is expressly designed and adapted to straddle a bed and which is consequently aptly suitable and desirable for use in hospit als, the home and elsewhere in that it enables the patient in'the bed to position the table where needed in a now generally well known manner.

,Persons conversant with the art to which the invention relates are aware that the commonly used over-bed table is characterized, generally speaking, by a horizontal shelf or table which spans the bed and which is provided at opposite ends with vertically adjustable legs, said legs being provided at lower end portions thereof with casters or 1 rollers to facilitate positioning the'table for use and then moving it to an out-of-the-way position when it is not being used. The present invention pertains toa table in this category but which is unique and more satisfactorily geared to the needs, of all concerned in that theleg units or structures at the ends, instead of embodying the usual mechanical gear-actuated legs, embody hydraulically operated leg units.

Two forms or embodiments of the invention are herein disclosed. One form is that type of table which has the aforementioned vertically extensible and retractible hydraulic leg units at both transverse ends of the table top. The other embodiment of the invention has to, do with the so-called shelf type which uses a single leg unit at one end of the shelf and in the present adaptation this single leg is likewise hydraulically operated. To better accomplish the desired results this particular single leg construction has a generally.'T-shaped base with three properly interrelated casters or rollers thus providing a self-standing base.

Generally considered the, concept comprehends the provision'a portable adjustable table or an equivalent structure which is characterized by a horizontally disposed table top or shelf which is designed so that it will overli the bed or, if desired, a bedside chair. At least one vertical leg structure is consequently provided and is equipped at a lower end thereof wtih casters or roller means. In addition means is provided at the upper end of the leg structure for connecting the same with the table top. The leg structure is extensible and eontractible and embodies a si pie, practical and 'eliabie hydraulic cylinder construction for extending and contracting the leg structure and consequently raising and lowering said table top. Then, too, in carrying out the invention means is provided at the upper end which comprises an attaching bracket, said bracket being detachabiy secured on the underneath side of t e table top. The advantage of t is con struction is that when using either one or two 1 the units may be detached and sent out for repairs and then subsequently replaced.

it is also a feature of the invention to hingedly bracket the upper end portion of the leg units to the underneath an upper end of the barrel to said shelf, valved pump means operatively carried by and in alignment with the bottom of said barrel, a fluid cylinder aligned and coinrnunicatively joined to said pump means, a rod having a piston at the upper end reciprocable in said cylinder, said rod providing an extensible and contractible table adjusting leg, and a base to which said leg is connected.

Further novelty is predicated on a construction and arrangement wherein hydraulic hingedly mounted leg units or structures with roller means are provided at the rest: ctive transverse ends of the table top and wherein only one of the leg structures embodies the 'required'rnanually operated pump means, this single pump serving to deliver the fluid from the associated cylinder to '21 Conn panion or complenrental cylinder provided in the other leg, a flexible fluid conduit being provided to accomplish this desirable result.

These together with other objects and advantages which willtbecorne subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more. fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accordpanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of an over-bed table constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an edge view of the same showing the position and relationship of the leg units or legstructur'es FIGURES is a section on an enlarged scale t ken on the plane of the'vertical line 5-5 of 3 looking in the direction ofthe arrows;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal sectional View on the plane of the line 6--6 of FIGURE '4;

FIGURE 7 is a detail view taken on the plane of the line 77 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the modification wherein a single hydraulic leg unit or structure is employed to support an over-bed shelfsornetimes referred to as a bedside-type of table.

Reference will be made to FIGS. 1 to 7, inclusive, and FIG. 8, showing the modification, will be taken up later. With respect first to FIG. 1 the general construction is here disclosed and it will be noted that the table top or shelf is denoted by the numeral ltiand is of rectangular form. The leg units or leg structures and the respective. transverse ends thereof are denoted generally by the numerals 12 and 14, respectively. It will be clear that these legs diifer slightly in construction by glancing at the showing seen in FIG. 3. As already suggested. both legs are hydraulically operated and are hingedlybracketed for folding. The principal leg 12 is of the construction shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 in particular. 'To begin with table thus conveniently stored. By the same token and with this folding leg unit construction it is permissible to categorize the table as a knockdown construction for compact packaging, shipping and transportation Stated somewhat more explicitly novel y is pre on the construction and provision of a leg structure or unit the hydraulic cylinder means comprises a cylinder 16 which is to be filled with fluid in the manner illustrated in H6. 4 and which is provided at its. bottom with an extensible and retractible piston rod 13; The upper end of the rodis of the construction shown at 2% in FIG. 3 to provide a suitable pistonJ The lower end is appropriately connected with a hollow or tubular horizontal base member 2 which is provided at its ends with suitable rollers or casters 22. The upper end of the cylinder is aligned and cooperable with simple and practical dual pump means which is denoted generally in FIG. 4 by the numeral 24. This means in turn is characterized by a barrel 26 which constitutes a reservoir and which is provtded at its top with a substantally U-shaped member or attaching and hinging yoke 28. The arms or limbs 36 of this yoke straddle and are hingedly connected as at 32 with the depending flanges 34 of a U-shaped adapter and attaching bracket 36 which is removably fastened as at 38 to the underneath side of the table top. It may be mentioned here that with this yoke and bracket arrangement the entire leg unit or structure may be readily applied and removed. In addition it will be evident that the yoke is hinged to the bracket 36 making it possible to fold the leg structure to the position shown in FIG. 2. The pump proper 40 as shown in FIG. 4 is characterized by a fitting which is mounted in the bottom of the barrel 26 and which has screw-threaded connection with a companion fitting or coupling 44 which in turn is screwthreaded as at 46 into the upper end of the cylinder 16. The coupling means 44 is provided with communicating passages 48 and 50 the passage 48 serving to deliver the hydraulic fluid 52 into the cylinder from the reservoir. Suitable bores 54 are disposed in spaced parallelism in the fitting 42 and serve to accommodate the plunger heads or pistons on the reciprocating piston rods 58. These rods extend in spaced parallelism through the hollow portion of the reservoir and through appropriate bushings or guides 60 provided therefor, the upper ends of the rods being connected by pivoted links 62 to cooperating portions of the head 64 of a rocking manually actuated lever. This head is pivotally mounted in the bracket 36 on the support rod 66 provided therefor. The head is of the forked construction shown in FIG. 6 so that suitable pivotal connections may be provided as at 68. The lever or rod is denoted at 70 and is provided at its outer end with an appropriate accessible handle 72. It should be noted that this handle or lever is foldable to the dotted line, out-of-the-way position shown in FIG. 6 particularly when the leg units are collapsed or folded as shown in FIG. 2. To accomplish this the head is grooved or notched on one side as at 74 and a spring clip 76 is provided and the free end of the clip serves to engage the lever and to hold the lever in its normal operating position as shown in FIG. 7. By simply pulling the lever from right to left, shown in FIG. 7, it can be disengaged from the clip and moved to the out-of-the-way folded position. Primarily, however, the construction here is a pivoted lever which serves to operate the links 62 which, in turn, operate the plunger rods 58 and the plunger heads or pistons 56, the latter reciprocating in the bores or cylinders 54 provided therefor as shown in FIG. 4. The lower ends of the bores are normally closed by spring loaded or spring pressed ball check valves '73. It will be evident with this construction that the fluid in the reservoir can be pumped therefrom into the cylinder to thus force the piston rod or leg 18 down to the desired elevation to raise the table. T release the fluid for return to the reservoir an axial passage 80 is provided in the fitting 42 and this passage in turn is provided with a spring loaded cutoff valve 32 of the construction shown in FIG. 5. The valve is provided with a rod 84 operating through a screw-threaded bushing or sleeve 86, said rod being provided at the outer end with a handle 88 and surrounded at its inner end with a coil spring 96 which serves to normally place the valve element 82 across the passage 80 thus keeping this passage normally closed.

The companion hydraulic leg unit 14 at the right comprises as shown in FIG. 3 a cylinder 92 into which the upper end 20 of the rod or leg 94 reciprocates in the manner shown. The upper end of this cylinder is fitted into a socket or sleeve 96 carried by the yoke 98 whose arms 100 straddle the arms or flanges 102 of the bracket 194 and are hingedly mounted thereon as at 106. With this arrangement it is not necessary to provide pump means in this leg unit. To accomplish this a delivery conduit or line 198 is provided. This line is fastened to the underneath side of the table and one branch 110 at the left is joined by an elbow 112 to the passage or port 50 in the fitting 44 as shown in FIG. 4. A similar elbow With this construction it will be evident that by moving the lever means or handle 72 up and down the head 64 will rock on its pivot 66 and through the links 62 will operate the plunger rods 58 thus controlling the pump action by way, of course, of the alternately openable and closable spring-pressed check valves 78. This will serve to elevate the table by extending the leg 18 and also the leg 94 at the same time. The fluid can be returned to lower the table by simply opening the valve 82 and allowing the fiuid to return to the reservoir or barrel 26.

With reference now to FIGURE 8 it will be seen that the single leg construction comprises a shelf or table wherein the leg unit or means is basically the same as that shown at the left in FIG. 3. Briefly then it comprises a cylinder 122, a piston rod 124 operable in the cylinder said rod being connected at its lower end to a substantially tripodal or self-standing T-shaped base. The main base member is denoted at 126 and the rod 124 is connected to the intermediate portion thereof, this memher being provided at its ends with casters or rollers 128. The complemental right angularly disposed base member is denoted at 130 and it is coplanar with 126 and is attached to the median portion thereof and is at right angles and the outer end is provided with a caster 132. Here the hydraulic component of the leg structure is denoted generally by the numeral 134 and it is connected to a pump denoted at 136 and comprising a reservoir or barrel 138 and coupling means 146. Since the pump means here is the same as that already described it is not being detailed. It is also to be pointed out that in this arrangement the bracket 36 is omitted. On the other hand a yoke 149 is provided and this is attached to the upper end of the barrel and the legs or arms 142 thereof are flanged and attached removably to the underneath side of the shelf. The lever is denoted at 144 and a handle at 146 these parts corresponding to the already described lever 70 and handle 72. Although this particular leg unit with hydraulic means is not foldable it is nevertheless detachable for compactness and convenient handling and storage. Although the description has to do with leg units with manual mechanical pump means and hydraulic means embodied therein it will be evident that it is within the purview of the invention to utilize a power operated construction, that is, power means (not shown) for operating and controlling the pump.

it is believed that a careful consideration of the specification in conjunction with the views of the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear and comprehensive understanding of the construction and arrangement and cooperation of the features. In fact, it is thought that a more extended description is perhaps unnecessary.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An over-bed table comprising an elongated top, a generally inverted U-shaped bracket secured beneath one end portion of said top, a leg including a yoke on its upper end straddling the bracket and pivotally connected offcentcr thereto for mounting said leg on the top for swinging said leg to a folded position generally paralleling said top, the end portions of the yoke abutting the underside of the top when said leg is in open position, said leg further including a pair of telescopic members, and a fluid pump on said upper end of the leg for extending said members, said pump including a fluid reservoir afiixed to the bight portion of the yoke and closed thereby, and means for manually actuating the pump.

2. The combination of claim 1, one of said leg members being tubular for the reception of fluid under pressure from the reservoir, said pump being interposed beween said one leg member and said reservoir and further including a fitting in the lower portion of the reservoir, a removable coupling threadedly connected to said one leg member and said fitting, said fitting and said coupling including passages communicating the reservoir with said one leg member, check valves controlling the passages, plungers operable in the fitting passages for forcing the fluid to said tubular leg member, and a hand lever operatively connected to said plungers.

3. The combination of claim 2, said lever being foldable and said lever including an elongated pivotally mounted head having a longitudinal groove in one end portion, and an elongated handle having one end portion pivotally secured in the groove.

4. The combination of claim 1, said means comprising a rod mounted on a support, and a lever including an elongated head pivotally mounted on the rod and opera- 6 tively connected to the pump; said head having a longitudinal groove in one end portion, an elongated handle having one end portion pivotally secured in the groove, and .a resilient clip on the head engageable under tension with the handle for frictionally securing same in an operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. AN OVER-BED TABLE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED TOP, A GENERALLY INVERTED U-SHAPED BRACKET SECURED BENEATH ONE END PORTION OF SAID TOP, A LEG INCLUDING A YOKE ON ITS UPPER END STRADDLING THE BRACKET AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED OFFCENTER THERETO FOR MOUNTING SAID LEG ON THE TOP FOR SWINGING SAID LEG TO A FOLDED POSITION GENERALLY PARALLELING SAID TOP, THE END PORTIONS OF THE YOKE ABUTTING THE UNDERSIDE OF THE TOP WHEN SAID LEG IS IN OPEN POSITION, SAID LEG FURTHER INCLUDING A PAIR OF TELESCOPIC MEMBERS, AND A FLUID PUMP ON SAID UPPER END OF THE LEG FOR EXTENDING SAID MEMBERS, SAID PUMP INCLUDING A FLUID RESERVOIR AFFIXED TO THE BIGHT PORTION OF THE YOKE AND CLOSED THEREBY, AND MEANS FOR MANUALLY ACTUATING THE PUMP. 